Impact damage of the surface layer of α-quartz amorphized by the Ar+ ions implantation

Abstract

The goal of the performed experiments was to assess the effect of ion bombardment on the mechanical properties of α-quartz. The 40 keV Ar+-ions were implanted with fluences of 1014 and 1016 ion/cm2 were used. The accumulation of broken interatomic bonds in the sample surface layer was traced with the reflectance IR spectroscopy. The sample surface was subjected to the localized impact damaging by a pointed striker prior to and after the Ar+ implantation. The fractoluminescence (FL) excited in damaged samples was recorded with a 20 ns resolution during 1 ms. The statistical analysis of the energy distributions in impact-induced FL time series detected in unirradiated samples showed a random accumulation of newly formed point defects. The FL energy distributions in the ion-implanted samples followed a power law typical for the fracture of heterogeneous solids such as rocks, ceramics, etc.